Almost every one of us is either very successful or miserable failures depending on what measuring sticks we choose to stand next to. Funny how most people stand around pointing out the good things to others but spend their time thinking about the areas they don’t do as well. But by almost any measure, this race ranks up there with one of the most overall successful races that I’ve done. Ok… if you read my race reports almost all of them are successful in one respect or another. Even my “dismal failures” have been necessary stepping stones. But I’ll bask in the goodness of this one for a while because that’s all I really remember from these races anyway… This race began in Logan, Utah and ends in Fish Haven, ID. The course is actually point-to-point now, and more difficult than it has been in years past. It is actually 22,500 ft of climbing and 21,500 ft of descent with a 36 hour time limit. I had finished the Tahoe 100 miler only 2 months prior to this race. The only thing successful about that race was the fact that I was able to suffer for the last 70 miles to finish. That was a big thing because I learned how much I could suffer and still finish. That knowledge isn’t earned easily. But again, the lessons I learned there directly affected my strategy for this one. Mainly, I was NOT going to pound down the steep hills at break-neck speeds early in the race like I usually do. But there were other small changes that made a huge difference in my experience during this race. New custom orthotics helped distribute my body weight across my entire foot. I worked on strengthening the outside of my legs to prevent IT Band issues. And overall, increase my intake of fats/proteins and reduced some of the simple sugars/carbs that have made me sick before. But I had an added benefit, this time, of having a crew /pacer that helped out by providing critical things when I needed them. After losing my sister in an auto accident just a little over a month prior to the race, I felt it was important to try to get my dad to come with me and get him away from things for a while. None of us had seen the changing of the maples and aspens so this would be a great escape for all of us. So dad, my daughter Kelly, and Stacy were my crew. Stacy was crew chief and would become my pacer during the critical part of the night where I always go a little loopy and have trouble staying awake. She had been training for her first marathon in 10 years but had quickly gotten up to a few 20 milers. But she had never ran in the mountains…. Especially at night. So we would all be in for an adventure!
We started in the dark at 6am in the town of Logan, UT at an altitude of about 4800 feet and climbed 3400 vertical feet over the first 5 miles. Down a quick 800 and then up another 1200 by mile 12. It was a brisk, cool morning and I was moving quickly uphill but staying within my comfort zone. But as I approached 8800 feet, I began to feel the effects of altitude and the fact that I had been at 200 feet above sea level only the day before. I was really feeling ok except on the very steep climbs. And there were a LOT of STEEP climbs!!! They don’t know about switchbacks there apparently. My first thought was that I should have spent a LOT more time on the treadmill at a 30 degree incline. This, in fact, will be my lesson to myself when I get in to Hardrock. Hours of climbing on the treadmill for me.
After mile 12, the course descends almost 3600 feet. I not only stuck to my plan of making a controlled, quad-burning descent in the steepest areas, but it was very easy to do so because this place was as rock-strewn as Bandera!!! It was on one of the steepest, rockiest descents that my foot grabbed a rock and I went head-first down the hill. I never fall when flying down the mountain, but when I try to be careful, that’s when I go down. It was so rocky I couldn’t do my normal roll so I had to absorb the major part of my impact with my arms before my body hit the ground. Wrist bent back, fingers went numb on one hand. Leg scrapped and bleeding. Wow it’s a good thing I’m not new at this or I would have thought my race was over. But I shook it off and before long, was really not feeling bad at all. From the fall that was. But the altitude had sapped my energy, and on the beautiful down-hills that I normally would be flying down, I barely had the energy to keep up a good pace. Frustratingly, people were passing me. Ugh I hate that. But I know what I can do at any given time and I just do it. Buddy Teaster comes bounding by almost effortlessly. John Sharp was ahead of me. I think all of the Texans except Naresh (who was just out for a training run-ha) were ahead of me. Chad Armstrong, Lynn Ballard, Pete Mehok, and now Buddy. I’m glad everyone is doing well. It doesn’t bother me, much…. that I am not tearing it up. It’s a long race. I overhear someone say that 2/3 of the climbing is in the first half of the race. That little tidbit of info was helpful to my mental state. I pull in to Logan Peak (10.5). Grabbed a few bites, refilled my camelbak with water/maltadextrine, and headed out again. The steep climbs were still nauseating. I was fine on the flats and downhills. Even gradual climbs were ok. But the steepest climbs that engaged my leg muscles fully pulled me in to that feeling that let me know I hadn’t acclimated adequately.
By the time I reached Letham Hollow (19.6), I was thrilled to see my crew for the first time. Stacy was amazing at organizing, anticipating, and keeping me on schedule. I had saved the MP3 player to look forward to. I was READY for its company on the trail. Turkey rolls, diet 7-up. And, I had my first avocado there. I have had one during a race but had bought a good many at Walmart on a whim. They turned out to be my main source of calories for much of the race. It was getting warm. Cami, my faithful $4 cowboy hat that had gotten me through many a race was keeping the sun out of my eyes. But this was his last race. His victory lap. Thing barely could maintain its shape. But I contorted it this way and that to keep the sun out of my eyes. The white, long-sleeve backpacking shirt was again, a good choice for the radiating heat from the sun boring through the thin mountain atmosphere. Ate and listened to tunes as I made my way a few miles up a dirt road. Feeling better. Food in my belly. Listening to music. Enjoying the magnificent mountains, streams, and amazing autumn foliage. Reached a quick station at Richards Hollow and headed up for a 2200 ft climb over the next 8 miles.
By the time I had reached Cowley’s Canyon at mile 30, I had been out of water for almost an hour. Running in the hot sun on a dusty road, I could see the station long before I could get there. I guy was sitting there with a busted, swollen knee. Maybe it was inappropriate for me to comment how lucky he was because he got to stay there . My crew was waiting and I plopped down and leaned against the front bumper of the car. So great to see dad enjoying the whole scene. Kelly always gave me a hug as I came into the station. What a great daughter. I don’t know what I would have done without her these last few years. And Stacy just made every aspect of the race better. No escape from the glaring heat. Each race seems to have a nutritional theme. For this one, I was craving avocado and diet 7-up. Diet because the sugar would make me sick. But the carbonation seemed to help settle my stomach. Forced down some more turkey. I was trying to talk to Stacy about how worried I was about her pacing because she had no mountain experience and had never run at night and this was my craziness and I didn’t want her to get hurt or in a bad situation and almost was crying for absolutely no reason what-so-ever. Welcome to the wonderful world of ultrarunning. Except it was way too early to start having an emotional break-down. But what happens, happens. You take whatever your body and mind give you but you just keep going. I was joking about how some people get a mental boost just from the thought that they were quitting. So I decided to mentally quit at every aide station. “I’m giving up! Not going on! Ahhh. Feels good to be done! I’m just going to sit here forever! … ahhh. Glad I don’t have to go out again… Ok, time to go again…..” It was at this station that my stomach told me to switch from my maltadextrine to these packets of Amino Vital that I had also brought on a whim because they had that at Tahoe and it worked well for me. It worked well again. Maltadextrine goes straight to the muscles but does not feed the liver and thus, the brain. The next aide station
is “mostly” downhill… oh, except for this vertical ascent of
“only” 800 feet. Sounds easy but in the heat, a steep 800 feet
over a couple of miles can be brutal. It was for me anyway. But I
wasn’t the only person suffering out there. The descent of 2000
feet over the next 5 miles absolutely seemed to go on forever. If
you have never run in the mountains, you have no idea how much
further a mountain mile is compared to a flat road mile. You just
can’t imagine. 5 miles in the mountains can seem like 20.
Kelly was waiting for me about ½ mile before the next aide station and ran with me the rest of the way to Right Fork at mile 36.9 and I was probably number 110 out of the 135 runners. I just wasn’t able to go any faster. I could make excuses all day long like, most of them are from Utah and Colorado and can train there, etc. etc. But the fact was I was behind the rest of our Texas crew also. And by several hours for some of them. I was just weak and tired. What can I say? Laid down on the ground. Realized I had been running all day with no caffeine so tried some diet Mountain Dew. Ah that was nice. Avocado, turkey wrap. And some raspberries. Fruit always seems to work well for me when I’m running in hot weather. Easy to digest. Again, Stacy is just amazing at taking care of me. Coordinating, planning, making me eat/drink. Luckily after this stop they can head back to the hotel a bit before they meet me tonight for her to run with me. I head out, a bit discouraged about being so slow. But I know it is still early in the race. Things can always turn around. And usually do. Actually, things always turn around when it is some problem other than mechanical. I know the course is
marked better than it ever has been before and I have no complaints.
But you absolutely have to pay attention to the instructions and
markings. Joe Prusaitis spoils us with his races. But these point
to point races just can’t be marked as well. And some of the aide
stations are up to 10 miles apart. That is a long way for the
mountains. Several times I just happened to overhear people talking
about upcoming turns and was glad I did.
As evening approaches, I pull in to Temple Fork at mile 45, ready to refresh myself for the night. I was so glad I had put a bag of dehydrated scrambled eggs in my drop bag because I was craving protein. But what made the experience surreal was that I had the ultrarunner of the year, Karl Meltzer, cook my eggs for me. Ok, he only heated the water but still, wow! First I run through the mountains with Gordy Ainslie at 3am in Western States, now Karl cooks me eggs! Rubbing elbows with greatness! Relubed my feet, changed socks and clothes, ate, got my light for the approaching darkness, and felt like a new man. My wonderful crew waved to me and my heart swells as I headed up, alone, into the wild mountains, with a full belly, a spring in my step, and sweet tunes in my ears. Seeing… truly seeing… the sage dance in the evening air. There are bears and mountain lions in these woods, but I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about those things. But let me tell you that the roar that I heard over my tunes sent a chill down my spine! Sounded like the wail of a bear but I could have been mistaken. I stopped dead in my tracks and instinctively scanned the ground for any weapon. The rock I found wouldn’t have helped at all but it made me feel better. My lips were numb. I shine my light up into the trees and there are two shiny eyes staring back at me. And they aren’t close together. And they aren’t near the ground. And wait, there is another pair! And another pair! Then a beller came from the opposite side of the trail. I shine my light over there and about 30 eyes stare glassily back at me. I had surprised a whole herd of black angus cattle. You might think that was a nice surprise, but these cattle were nervous and obviously I was between some mother and her calf because she was bellering and fighting mad. And that baby just wouldn’t stop screaming like something was attacking it. Making her all the more nervous. Yet… they wouldn’t leave. Too afraid to join each other. There had to be over 40 head of cattle. I tried everything to make them run but they were separated from each other and didn’t want to leave. I threw rocks. Yelled. Nothing made them move. So finally I just decided I would make a run for it and hope for the best. I ran through the middle of them and cows started crashing through the stream, up the mountain, breaking trees, but I just kept going. Let me tell you it is possible to do 7 min miles uphill in the mountains after 14 hours and 50 miles. You just need the right… motivation. Sometimes, the only way around, is through.
I made it through unscathed and continued my climb endlessly to Tony Grove at mile 51.8. No crew access here but it was by a lake and the cold night air wafted through the station. The aide station captain said “you want some beans?” I said “sure”. He said, “you want a warm blanket?” I said, “you have a warm blanket?” He said “Heeeeelll yea!!! I wouldn’t have offered one if I didn’t”. I said “great”. So I sat there and ate beans, in a warm blanket. A woman comes in and the aide station captain said “You want some warm chocolate cake??” She said “You have warm chocolate cake???” He said “Heeeeellll Nooooooo!!”. I almost rolled out of my chair laughing. I told him about my herd of cattle experience and he said the cows weren’t as dangerous as the moose. Dang, hadn’t even thought about those. So I grudgingly headed out of the camp and into the cold night air. If you want someone to define infinity, I have a great definition. It is the distance of 10 miles through the mountains without an aide station, in the freezing cold, when you have already run 51 miles. The brain starts to get foggy. Trees were in the trail. It was just a long, long time. I began to think I had missed the aide station and had somehow stumbled on to the trail that led to the next station. Yet eventually I rolled in to mile 61.5 (Franklin) and was ready to pick up my pacer!!! About mile 60 is where many people fall apart. There were some miserable souls there. My dad got to witness some of the drama that happens in the aide stations late in these races. Yet by the time I had a quesadilla and put on warm clothes, I was starting to feel pretty good. Stacy and I took off into the dark and dad and Kelly headed back to the hotel for some sleep. It was probably close to midnight I think. They were to pick up Stacy at mile 85 the next morning. Having Stacy with me absolutely was a godsend at this point. Someone to talk to kept my foggy mind focused. We picked up the pace and were passing people often now. We caught John right before we reached Logan River at mile 70. He was in a bad place. Not much we could do to help so we eased on to the station. Nice warm fire. Plenty of chairs, blankets, and food. We got the hell out of there as quickly as we could!!! Way too tempting a place to hang out. Down the road a few miles, we approach a river crossing. There is a beaver dam and I was able to navigate the logs to get to a middle section. But on the last few rocks, I became a little disoriented and slipped in up to my shins in the icy cold water. OH NO!!! I quickly remove my shoes and socks to wring them out. But that was of little help. There is frost on the ground and the steep climb had us down to a crawl. My body temperature plummeted and I almost immediately became disoriented with hypothermia and was stumbling back and forth on the trail. The trail wasn’t marked well so there was some back and forth down false trails. At one point, I stumbled to the ground and just laid there for a while, enjoying the rest on the cold , hard ground. Stacy knew that in my state, I shouldn’t be laying anywhere and quickly rousted me up and back on the climb. I only had a couple of hallucinations. I was fairly lucid except for those. Seeing a large white cloud shoot across the trail up ahead. Then a UFO, but I think that one was real-lol. Of course I was the only one to see it but… Anyhew… I just kept saying “If I can only make it to daylight, things will get better”. It’s happened over and over again so I know not to be discouraged by the reality of the moment. As day begins to break, we approach the highway that leads to Beaver Mountain Yurt at mile 76. This was one of the more disappointing stops because we were both absolutely famished and there was just no food other than the traditional race food that stopped being appealing about a day ago. Need real food at this point in the race. I did find a few sips of chocolate milk. Luckily I had thrown a pouch of those dehydrated eggs in my bag here so I had something. But no time to grieve here because we are now starting to get worried about making the 36 hour cutoff time limit for the course. It is impossible to know how much you will slow down the last part of the race. We pick up the pace and she really pushed me when I could be pushed to run as hard as I could and climb as fast as I could. Made it to Gibson Basin (82) and I was doing well. Passing even more people now. I was starting to feel pretty darn smart about taking it easy early in the race. No IT band issues. No sciatic nerve issues. Feet still feel pretty good. We grab some fruit at 82 and head out without hardly stopping. Hey, maybe we can even break 34 hours!!!
Pull in to Beaver Creek at mile 85 and Dad and Kelly are there waiting. Take off the tights from the night run, put on some cooler clothes, grab a few avocados, Amino Vital, and my MP3 player again, oh….. and Cami, and leave Stacy, Kelly, and dad once again. Still feeling good. Able to hit the climbs pretty hard. But I’m eating a whole avocado per hour!! Way more fat than I would ever think I should eat but it kept my hypoglycemia at bay and kept my energy level stabilized. So you stick with whatever works!!! I was having fun now. Pushing on. Climbing hard. Giving myself more leeway now in taking the downhills faster.
I was pretty tired and hungry by the time I reached Ranger Dip Trail at mile 92. Kelly met me down the trail and we ran in together. I wanted to sit down and rest a while but Stacy was concerned about helping me reach that new goal of 34 hours and the calculations indicated we had better not waste time. I did take a moment to scrape avocado on to Fritos and oh they were heavenly!!! Stacy and I headed off for the last time. Only thing between us and the finish was about a 2 mile climb and a 6 mile descent. But the climb was straight up and the descent was steep. We had about 3 hours I think to beat the 34 hour cutoff. But we really pushed the climb. Up up up. We passed people going up and before we knew it, we had reached the almost 9000 ft summit. Hey.. you know we might be able to break 33 hours!!!! My time all came down to how well I could take advantage of the downhill. And after all of that climbing, the legs screamed when I began the descent. But I begin to scream something similar to favorite line from Forest Gump(Lieutenant Dan). “Woo Hoo is that all the pain you got??? Hee heeeee come on quads let me feel the burn!!!!”
We were flying down the hill I know at a 7:00-8:00 min pace for a good amount of time. People could hear us pounding down the mountain and looked up to see what heard of buffalo were heading down the hill. Just Stacy and me. She was navigating those rocks like a pro. Her first 50k and it was mostly at night, in the mountains. I could see the lake and knew I could make it to the finish. So I let it rip. I wanted to leave it all on the mountain, but I had NEVER felt this great at the end of a race in all my life. I’m not a competitive person normally and I love the team spirit and camaraderie of the ultra community. But I admit I allow my competitive nature to run rampant at the end of a race when trying to inspire myself to give my all. Every time I would see someone ahead, I would give Stacy the thumbs-up and kick it up even higher.
There is only one problem with not knowing a course. And that is if you give it all you have all the way to the end… and you aren’t at the end… We hit a creek and people were there taking pictures and just told us to run through and we assumed we would see the finish line at the top of the next embankment. I plunge in, drag those wet, size 15 shoes up the hill, only to be told I have about another 2 ½ miles!!!! What???? 32 hours and 40 minutes had passed. Nothing but road left but amazingly, my legs still felt strong. Stacy had gotten me as far as she could and knew I would make it. But I wanted to push because I still had some left so I took off. As I would pass people, I would encourage them to try to follow and beat 33 hours with me. At least they were nice enough NOT to shoot the finger at me . To my face anyway. These little time goals are really meaningless in the whole scheme of things. A finish is a finish. But it is fun to me and helps me push myself so I like to do it. I don’t know how my legs, heart, and lungs held out but I pushed and they all burned. 7:30-8:00 min pace at this stage of the race is just amazing for me. I kept thinking I was at the end but each turn produced a new stretch of road ahead of me. I see cars parked ahead, people standing by the highway, glance at my watch.. I think I can still make it. Push harder. I approach the road only to see little white arrows pointing down the highway!!!! Oh no!!! I cross traffic and head up the road. I try to disassociate my mind from my body and just let it run on its own. I finally see the finish off in a field way off the highway. I still have time!! I push hard all the way to the finish. Come in gasping for air at a time of 32:57.
From number 110 to the 68th finisher. Wow… what a ride!!! All my friends there to share the moment. Shortly afterwards, Stacy came in and it was apparent she had left it all out there too. It was so amazing to go that far and end up feeling so strong. And more importantly, to share the experience, enjoy being alive, and enjoy the amazing scenery. I had no lasting injuries from this race and was able to run well just a few days after. That was new for me too.
The next day we waded in the icy water of Bear Lake before heading to the airport. What an amazing life experience. And I was finally able to fully appreciate the scenery on the drive back towards Logan. Stopped for several photo ops as well.
Big lessons from this race. I’m going to experiment with more fat in my diet. And, I’m also going to do a lot more climbing before any mountain races. Having my big toenails permanently removed really paid off in that I had only a couple of blisters on my feet and none under my toenails. And the orthotics and hip strengthening exercises paid off too.
It’s been a good year. 203 mile Texas Independence Relay (Solo), Tahoe Rim 100, Bear 100. Now to apply for Badwater and Hardrock again. We will see what adventures await in 2010!!!
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